The establishment of a high-level dialogue between Indonesia and China will bring the two countries closer together, but the South China Sea will remain a stumbling block in their relationship, foreign policy experts have said.
China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, and the Indonesian minister for maritime affairs and investment, Luhut Pandjaitan, last week signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to create “a platform for closer dialogue” between their governments.
The development was immediately hailed as a “great event” in bilateral relations by the Chinese foreign ministry, which said the move was “an important measure to implement the consensus reached by the heads of state”.
The dialogue aims to boost cooperation on five points: Covid-19 vaccines and health care;…
